Why does God refer to Himself in the plural in Genesis 1:26 and 3:22?

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The very first verse of Scripture introduces a remarkable feature of the Hebrew text. The word translated "God" throughout Genesis 1 is Elohim — a plural noun consistently joined to singular verbs. This is no grammatical accident. William Kelly draws attention to this at the outset of the creation account: "God" in our version answers to the Hebrew Elohim, which, however, has the peculiarity of a plural substantive with a singular verb. Christianity alone in its own time cleared up the enigma, which still remains impenetrably dark to the Jews, as well to other men, who know not in Christ "the true Light." A. J. Pollock develops this at length, noting a critical detail of Hebrew grammar: The Hebrew language is not a rich language, but it is rich in its grammar in one particular, it possesses three numbers — singular, dual (standing for exactly two), and plural (standing for at least three). What made Moses write down the sacred word, GOD, in the plural? The word, GOD (Elohim), is found over 2,500 times in the plural, and only a little over 300 times in the singular. In the light of the full teaching of Scripture we can plainly see that the thought of the Trinity is therein enshrined. This is further emphasized by the fact that the verb that follows the word GOD (plural) in Genesis 1:1 — "GOD created" — is in the singular. This is very unusual to say the least. But if the plural form of the word, GOD sets forth a plural-unity, we can understand the plural word for GOD being followed by a singular verb. Pollock points to the great confession of Israel in Deuteronomy 6:4 as further confirmation: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord [Jehovah, singular] our God [Elohim, plural] is one Lord [Jehovah, singular]." Here in the very affirmation of the unity of the Godhead, there is emphasized the truth of the Trinity, Three in One and One in Three — one God. There is no room for Unitarianism in Genesis 1. When man's creation is announced, the language changes strikingly. Up to this point, everything had been brought into being by simple fiat: "Let there be light," "Let the earth bring forth." But now, for the first time, God enters into counsel with Himself. William Kelly writes: Not only is man introduced with marked separateness from the previous creation of animals, even from those of the earth made on the same day, each "after its kind," and all seen as "good," but for the first time God enters into counsel with Himself for this great and absolutely new work. It is no longer "Let there be," or "Let the earth (or 'the waters') bring forth," though man's body is in its due place expressly said to have been formed of the dust of the ground. Here the language rises into appropriate grandeur and solemnity, "Let us make men." An article in the Bible Treasury (1879) explains the significance of the plural form: As to the plural form of the word, and its connection with singular verbs, would not it be near the truth to say that, while it cannot be regarded as a revelation of the Trinity, it is still such a mode of expression as evinces that He, the blessed Spirit, the third person therein, had it in mind, and used words, the full force of which could only be understood by us when that doctrine had been revealed? When man, however, was to be created, it was not, as in each previous case, by a simple fiat of God's lips: the creation of man was the subject of divine counsels. "Let us make man," etc. A. J. Pollock ties the plural address directly to the three Persons of the Godhead: It is understandable why the name God [Elohim, plural] should be employed in Genesis 1. This chapter gives an account of how this world was made suitable for the habitation of man. It is the description of how God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit, acting in perfect concert — brought everything into ordered being for His own glory, and for the blessing and support of mankind. An article in the Christian Friend (1895) adds that the full revelation of the Trinity at Christ's baptism is what finally unlocks what was latent in the Old Testament: It is quite true that this could not be comprehended at the time. It was not indeed until the baptism of our blessed Lord that the whole truth of the Trinity came out. Then God spake from heaven; His beloved Son was on the earth; and the Holy Ghost descended and abode upon the Son. But now that the full revelation of God has been made, and the Holy Spirit has come, who searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God, we can go back, as led and taught of Him, and discover much that could not have been before understood. The second occurrence of the divine plural comes after the fall. William Kelly explains: By the fall man got the knowledge of good and evil, that is, the intrinsic perception of right and wrong apart from prescription; or as Jehovah Elohim said (Gen. 3:22), "Behold, the man is become as one of us to know good and evil!" In Adam fresh from God's hand the knowledge of good and evil would have been a defect, a moral inconsistency, and therefore an impossibility. The plural language in Genesis 1:26 and 3:22 is no grammatical curiosity. The Hebrew name Elohim — plural in form, yet always governing a singular verb when used of the true God — embeds from the very first verse of Scripture a truth that would only be fully revealed in the New Testament: that the one God exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When God says "Let us make man in our image," the language rises to a unique solemnity because man alone among all creatures was to represent God on earth. The divine Persons take counsel together for this crowning work of creation. As Pollock puts it, it is a "plural-unity" — three Persons, one God — and the truth of the Trinity, so patent in the New Testament, is clearly latent in the Old from Genesis 1:1 onwards.

Pourquoi Dieu se désigne-t-Il au pluriel dans Genèse 1:26 et 3:22 ?

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